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Entries in gaming (31)

6:06PM

Minecraft

Have you ever wanted to play a game where you had limitless possibilities on what you could build or create? From building tall structures to surviving the creatures of the night, Minecraft has left a mark on the way pc games are played. A Normal first person perspective game would give you a gun or a sword and a wave of enemy’s to defend yourself from. However, this game gives you everything you need in creative mode, or only your bare hands in survival mode. You can create a large civilization or survive the lands on what you can salvage. Explore the world and find new things, and new possibilities. Minecraft is one fun and addictive game that I would strongly recommend to any one that hasn’t played it.

Before I go into details on why I recommend you try it out, I want to explain something first. If you go to the Minecraft site you can buy the beta. Why buy the beta? Well if you buy the beta now, when the game is done and finished you get the actual game for free. That’s always a bonus right? So let me begin with the explanations. When I stated you had limitless possibilities on what you could create, I wasn’t joking. You can create as much as you want in creative mode, as long as you have a very active imagination and time. You are given the material’s you might need (Bricks, stones, iron, etc.) in order to create large or small structures. However in survival mode you are not limited in creativity, but you do have to manage your hunger, life, etc. You also have to gather materials in which you use to craft items such as pickaxes, shovels, beds, doors, and so on.  Having the right equipment essential for certain elements. For example, if you have only your bare hands, then digging up dirt and grass would take no time at all. However digging up rocks would take a little more time. Now with a pickaxe it would be a lot quicker to dig through the rocks. All of this makes the game more interesting and enjoyable.

This game does have an interesting assortment of creatures that come out during the night.   You do have to defend yourself from these creatures. One of my personal favorites is the Creepers. A Creeper is a green creature that hops around the map, however if one of them gets close to you they start to making a hissing noise that sounds like a fuse being set on fire. It will then start to flash, after only a few seconds it will explode. If it is near your house then there will be some missing chunks. They do make quite the boom.  Another strange creature is endermen. Before I go into an explanation on what the Endermen look like, it kind of reminds me of Slenderman. Maybe just a coincidence. Anyway, Endermen are tall black creatures with white eyes and purple irises. If you move your curser over them and held it for over a second then they will freeze, if you move it only a pixel then it will charge you at full speed. The only annoying thing a Endermen does, is take blocks from your structure and move it somewhere else. Monster ranges from skeletons shooting arrows at you, from zombies chasing you to eat you, giant mutant spiders. With all of the enemies in mind you do have methods of defeating them. You could make swords or axes and such to use as weapons. You can also use lava against them as well by using a lava bucket. (This of course dumps lava on the ground) So the enemies are not too difficult if you have the right equipment.

Although Minecraft has a lot of cool things in it, there is one thing about this game that I like personally. That’s the day to night time transition. It’s so smooth and fluent. The only hint you get that the day will end or the night is ending, is a short but yet pleasant melody. Then the day would slowly flow into place. Games that have this smooth effect are games such as Oblivion or Fallout. Another cool yet odd effect is the shading and the glow of the graphics. At first I used to call these graphics “High Definition Pixels.” Because the blocks reminded me of pixels. 

All in all, aside from the difficulty of the game being quite high and low, I’d have to say this game got me hooked as soon as I play it. When I do play it, I don’t stop until I finish a certain project. So overall, the game is defiantly worth the buy. There is an online multiplayer as well, but a server costs money. But there are methods to playing with your friends without having to buying a server, which is the Hamachi method. This generally links two networks, so it’s like a LAN match more than anything. But it still works. Well thanks for reading, and see you next time.

4:48PM

Review: BlueLounge Refresh

 

The Refresh is a charging station manufactured by BlueLounge. It is advertised as a place to recharge multiple electronics while keeping them organized. Better yet, it seems to do just that. Let's take a look.

The Refresh is a great charging station. The product looks and feels high quality. It is super aesthetically pleasing, and trust me, you will receive several compliments on it- especially if you use it at your workplace. The viewing angle differentiates it from other charging stations, and also adds a very nice feature as you can see if a new text came in or other notifications right from where you are sitting- no leaning involved. All of your products will charge at normal charging time. You will only occupy one outlet on your wall, whether you are in Europe or the U.S. And better yet, there is only one cable.

However, the product does have its faults. The LED indicator is placed inside the product, so you can't tell whether the device is on or off while using the product itself. Also, plugging devices in at first was really awkward. You get used to it over time, however, especially with third party cables, your devices will not lay neatly on the device. Perhaps the biggest downfall is the price. The Refresh weighs in at a hefty $90, which may be a little bit too much to pay for this device, as it does not bring anything new to the table.

If you have the money to spend $90 on the Refresh, go ahead and do it. However, I would wait until you can find it for about $60-70 to make your purchase. You can buy yours here.

YouTube

12:16AM

Sid Meier's Civilization V Review

Sid Meier's Civilization V is the fifth iteration of the popular game series Civilization. Civilization V is an amazing game that offers awesome gameplay, stunning graphics, and endless entertainment. Check out the video for more information on this awesome video game!

YouTube

10:20AM

Unboxing & Overview: Hauppauge HD PVR

The Hauppauge HD PVR retails for $199 and is the best solution to anyone looking to capture high definition component video sources. This device allows you to plug in video game consoles, such as the Xbox 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii, as well as DVR Cable Boxes. With the component inputs, you are capable of recording your device in up to 1080i resolution.

If you are interested in recording your video games to upload to YouTube, the HD PVR is the best solution. It i basically plug and play, with easy to use software. Out of the box, the HD PVR is only compatible with Windows, but you can download drivers and compatible software for Mac OS X. 

The device feartures an input and output for component video, as well an input for composite and s-video standard definition signals. The box also has an input and output for your standard audio as well optical audio.

Hauppauge's simple design and easy to use device owns the market when it comes to HD video recording. I would easily recommend this product to anybody in the market looking for an easy was to record video gameplay, TV shows, or any component device. 

If you would like to see this product in action, be sure to check out my video game channel here.

@brandon_goldman

12:34PM

Will Video Game Streaming Services Really Catch On?

This was originally posted on agamingsite.com

Whether its queuing in line for hours to get the latest 'Call of Duty' or saving up every penny so you can get the latest game; every gamer knows the excitement of breaking that plastic seal for the first time and placing the disk into your console of choice, but is this set to disappear?
It seems that every industry is trying to move as much of their operations onto the web; an example of this can be seen clearly in the music market, CD sales down and mp3 downloads up its no wonder why certain business are encountering shaky times; but is this set to move over to the gaming industry? This inevitable move for everything to be on the web shows no sign of stopping and instead looks set to smash through gaming more then any other industry, with companies such as 'OnLive' and others researching into how best to enter this market. But should we embrace this or rather fight against it?
I for one feel like we should welcome this move as it can have big impacts and change many factors; one of which being environmental issues, with all the packaging that engulfs games today its no wonder that there is an environmental impact for clearing all this and recycling it, however with a streaming service their would be no need for any packaging at all and therefore have less impact. Furthermore the lack of packaging would also create a slight reduce in cost which would be much welcomed by all!
Additionally a streaming service would also make game rental a lot easier and eliminate the tiresome task of having to take them back on a deadline or otherwise be fined; as with an online service the game could just be removed from your account when your rental finishes and save you time and money.

There are many arguments against streaming games as well, although over time i expect it to be inevitable, as technological capabilities change so will the users experience in gaming. But will we still get that excitement of opening a new game out of its case? Only time will tell.

 What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

www.agamingsite.com

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